50 Days, 315 left

This was the kind of random greeting I got from my e-mail calendar the other day - hard to believe we've already gone 50 days into the new year! Time flies when you're having fun, I guess.

Today has been a pretty good day - a fair amount of alone time and just hanging out, which has been nice. This morning I started off with reading through "Living the Christian Year" by Bobby Gross. I decided to catch back up with reading, as I had been to an Ash Wednesday service this week, which was a good chance to reflect and just be at peace and connect with God. Just by way of background, I don't come from churches with a lot of traditional elements in them, so celebrating Lent is kind of a new thing for me. In fact, I don't think I have been to an Ash Wednesday service before this.

Anyhow, the service on Wednesday was really neat, so I wanted to read Living the Christian Year, both for background and to further connect with the idea of Lent. Some things really spoke to me from the book.

In his discussion of Lent, Bobby Gross states: "Each year, the season of Lent asks us to embrace a spiritual gravity, a downward movement of soul, a turning from our self-sufficiency and sinfulness. In such a quiet turning, we are humbled and thus made ready to receive from God a fresh and joyous grace."

Later he states: "...fasting is much like sabbath-keeping: a restriction that creates space for God....Fasting then, is to deny ourselves food for a time in order to more vividly know Jesus as the source of our sustenance and being."

That just really spoke to me, particularly about the "quiet turning" and creating space for God. My life hasn't been particularly hectic these past few weeks, but I do feel like there is constantly something going on, something demanding my attention, especially if I let it do so. It's just a neat picture of slowing down and creating space for God, and that's why we fast. It's not because it is such a particularly spiritual thing, or that it will earn us brownie points with God - but rather, it is a nourishing, pure thing that allows us to more fully connect with God and receive what he has for us. What a neat thing indeed.

Reflections

It's been an interesting day - this week seems like it has flown by. The first half of the week was work intensive and chilling in the evenings, and the second half is lighter at work, and evening intensive. So I guess that's good. I went to a Bible study tonight that was really good - I think there's going to be some good friends that come out of it.

I've been marveling the last few days about how perfectly this job fits me, and how God just brought it about. It's been neat telling people how God dropped it in my lap, and then remembering how everything really did come together. And then hearing how impressed everyone was with me when I interviewed, and hoping that I would accept the job.... what a new feeling. Almost 1 yr ago exactly, I was told that I might get a Master's degree! And here I am today. God has been so faithful, and so awesome to me.

I've been comparing that to stories that people are telling me about their lives, and how different it is for people who don't know Christ. A friend who also moved here from PA is upset that after all this education, we're still in a period of training, and don't make any money. They're dissatisfied because the job market is "so bad" for PhDs. So many people have either been divorced or had parents who are divorced. A lady at work tells me today that her 8 y/o daughter's dad is coming to pick her up - "well, you can't really tell, but you have to pick one of them as the dad when you find out you're pregnant..." So sad! And such a contrast.

Life is interesting for sure. I'm just praising God for His abundant goodness to me, and praying for opportunities to befriend and share with others I meet on a day-to-day basis.

Settling in

Just an update on how things are going - it's only been a week, but it feels like so much longer. Not in a bad way, just that I guess a lot has happened, and I've had to learn or retrain my brain on just about everything. Although, I can sucessfully get to work and back without a GPS! Wahoo! Getting back is easy, there's only 2 ways to go. Getting to work is another challenge - there's about 8 ways to Sunday to go, and each one takes WAY longer than it should. Guess I'm used to living right near where I have to be... :)

Let's see... some highlights from the week.
- I discovered that NC has absolutely NO IDEA what to do when that white stuff comes down from the sky. My dad and I were laughing at what passes for plowing and snow plows on Sunday, and ironically, several of the accidents we saw were snowplows that had driven off the road and were stuck in snow banks. School was cancelled for 3 days and a two hour delay on Thursday, and we only got 5 inches total, and the snow/ice melted by Tuesday night. Guess it's good we're not getting the snow that's in PA right now - we'd be shut down until spring!

- I finally had a chance to go to the doctor yesterday and got antibiotics. I don't feel that much better yet, but at least my head is not exploding as much from the sinus pressure.

- I really like my place and my roommates - it's going to be a neat living situation I think. I have 4 roommates - Amy, Lizzy, Katie, and Ashley. More on the house later, when I have a chance to dig out my camera and take some pictures.

- Work is going to be good. It was a little slow at points this week, and there's a lot to take in. But I have been so content this week with where God has me. I can see that I'm exactly where I need to be, and exactly the level I need to be at. It's not too challenging to be over my head and frustrating, but not too easy that I'll be bored. It really is perfect. It's also neat to be at the next level up in terms of quality and expectations. Not that Hershey or PSU was a bad school or slacked off, it's just that this is definitely the next level up, which is nice in many ways.

Well, thanks for all your prayers and support - I appreciate them! Please keep in touch. More to come soon!